Matthew Lindsay: Win, lose or draw against Celtic tomorrow, Graeme Murty deserves to be kept on at Rangers

Matthew Lindsay: Win, lose or draw against Celtic tomorrow, Graeme Murty deserves to be kept on at Rangers

NO manager, regardless of how attractive the football his side produces or how much success they enjoy, ever really commands the complete backing of those who sit in the stands.

At the two main Glasgow clubs that is especially true. There are some Rangers fans who were no lovers of Walter Smith even though his achievements have afforded him legendary status at Ibrox. A few Celtic supporters will still not be wholly convinced by Brendan Rodgers despite the remarkable job he has done in his time in the dugout at Parkhead.

So Graeme Murty, the development coach who has been put in charge of the Rangers first team until the end of the 2017/18 campaign, is not alone in having his detractors.

Murty has certainly managed to win over a large numbers of his sceptics – and there was no shortage of them when it was confirmed he would remain at the helm until the summer back in December – during the past six weeks.

His men have won nine of the 10 games they have played in all competitions since the winter shutdown – the only blot on an otherwise impeccable record was the 2-1 defeat at home to Hibernian in the Ladbrokes Premiership – and have scored 31 goals in the process.

Slowly but surely, Rangers fans have warmed to the former Scotland international right back in increasing numbers due to the impressive manner in which he conducts himself personally off the park and the way his players have performed on it.

Victory in the Glasgow derby match at Ibrox tomorrow will result in the group which would like to see him handed the job on a long-term basis, for another season at least, swelling considerably.

Of course, football fans are fickle. Defeat will just as quickly result in supporters turning against Murty and demanding that a bigger name or a far more experienced replacement is brought in. It is the precarious world he now inhabits.

But Rangers could do a lot worse than keep faith in the 43-year-old regardless of the outcome of the 90 minutes this weekend and irrespective of how they fare in their remaining Premiership and William Hill Scottish Cup matches this term.

It is, despite the extensive signing spree the club embarked on during the January transfer window, harsh to judge him given the mess which he inherited when he first took over from Pedro Caixinha back in October.

Murty has shown many great qualities. He has worked closely and harmoniously with director of football Mark Allen and has succeeded in bringing in players like Jason Cummings, Greg Docherty, Sean Goss, Russell Martin and Jamie Murphy, who have improved the Rangers team tangibly.

As his predecessors Caixinha and Mark Warburton showed in the previous three transfer windows, when Joey Barton, Philippe Senderos, Dalcio, Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Pena were, among many others, all arrived for hefty outlays and then failed to deliver, that is not straightforward.

Warburton and Caixinha often looked uncomfortable in the spotlight – and the scrutiny the man in charge of Rangers is under is great – but Murty seems to have positively revelled in it.

The fact the ex-Reading defender is not, in comparison with some of the individuals who were touted for his position, expensive will be a definite consideration at a club which is operating at a loss and continues to wrestle with serious legacy issues.

Some renowned coaches have moved to Scotland and been unable to handle the demands and expectations which are placed on them, but Murty, who has drawn both of the Old Firm games he has been involved in, appears to thrive on the unique intensity of the game here.

You suspect that the current Rangers hierarchy - who have not, Warburton’s debut season aside, enjoyed a huge amount of success with their managers - would dearly like him to succeed so they can offer him an extension.

Murty can make their jobs a great deal easier by emerging victorious from the meeting with Celtic tomorrow, in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden next month or the final game against Rodgers’s charges following that.

But if he is unable to get the better of opponents who have a far larger budget and the advantage of years of stability it should not be held against him.

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